THE SAFETY CATCH
No risk, no reward

"Probes the core dilemma of motorcycle racing: glory can only be won at immense risk, so why do it?.. 

Dramatic tension derives from the conflict within Michael: will he… follow his brother, father and uncle on the road to glory and perhaps the grave?.. The adrenaline kick is vividly conveyed...A final sequence that mimics a road race is quite a theatrical achievement"

KATY HAYES Irish Independent

"There's a grey blur and a green blur, I try and stay on the grey one" Joey Dunlop

"The gods envy us because any moment may be our last" Achilles
     

After its' succssful stage run, including a sell-out week at the Lyric Belfast, THE SAFETY CATCH is now a film.

Originally written during lockdown, a time when we all recalibrated how we think about the balance between risk and tragedy in our lives, this film takes us inside a world where that trade-off is a way of life. In road racing, as in the legends of Antquity, mortal risk is the price of glory, and tragedy is the often extracted toll.

The action takes place in 2019: our hero's family has paid a heavy price for its glory, and now he must make his own choice; should he lay aside his way of life to save himself and his family from further suffering? Or is his life not worth the living without the risk he chooses to take, and the glory that it brings? It is 'Achilles Dilemma' - choose between glory, and a place in history, or a quiet, safe life.

Michael Dunlop is from the most famous dynasty in Road Racing - the world's most dangerous sport. We find him shortly after his brother William has been killed in practice for a race in Ireland. Through a dialogue with his mentor, he examines the joy his obsession brings him, his fear of its consequences, and his dread of a time when it is no longer part of his life.

Some say the chances the road racers take offend a civilised society; that they are a throwback to a more barbaric age. But what if life is never so large as when it is lived on the edge? Do we still sense that life is never so vivid as when risk, mortal risk, lingers around every corner?

Written by Nick Snow 

Directed by Joe O'Byrne

Director Joe O'Byrne says: “This is a play about life and death, a lot of death for the Dunlop family, one of the greatest sporting families Ireland has ever produced. The story is a verbal battle between two characters as they try to understand why they do what they do, why they couldn‘t not do what they do, and with so much at stake it is a passionate and fierce encounter, full of emotion, grief and passion. But it is more than that, it is an ode to adventure, to ambition and ultimately a true affirmation of life.”

"an extraordinary piece of theatre"  alaninbelfast.com

Writer Nick Snow adds: “Hanging around a film set in Ireland, I was chatting to a couple of actors about playing Shakespeare. Somehow, the conversation turned to the then very recent death of William Dunlop and we agreed that the Dunlop family saga was a story of truly Shakespearean proportions. As a biker and bike racing fan, I couldn’t shake the idea that it was a story worthy of the stage – then the pandemic came along and the theme of Risk versus Reward was irresistible, as exemplified in extreme form through the sheer passion for life intertwined with the very real risk of death that is road racing.” 

THE SAFETY CATCH IN MCN: MOTORCYCLENEWS

THE SAFETY CATCH IN THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH

THE SAFETY CATCH IN THE SUNDAY WORLD

THE SAFETY CATCH ON BBC RADIO ULSTER

Joe O’Byrne is an experienced Dublin-based director, whose most recent work is The Cordelia Dream for New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre in 2021. With his own Co-Motion Theatre Company he directed ‘Frank Pig says Hello’, Patrick McCabe’s own adaption of his Booker-shortlisted novel The Butcher Boy. With Upbeat Productions he co-wrote, with Roddy Doyle, and directed the stage version of Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.

Nick Snow is a journalist, businessman, writer and biker. He co-wrote and co-produced the film Prisoners of the Moon, premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival 2019, and is the author of the novel The Rocket’s Trail, (Arena Books 2009).

The producer is Johnny Gogan who follows up his obsession with machines last demonstrated with Black Ice (2013), the Netflix streaming feature about boy and girl racers. Gogan's other features include the Netflix documentary Hubert Butler Witness to the Future (2016), The Last Bus Home (1997), Mapmaker (2001) and the more recent Prisoners of the Moon (2019), Groundswell (2021). 

The play was first performed at the The Glens Arts Centre in Manorhamilton in May 2022. In November 2022 it played for two weeks at the New Theatre, Dublin. Anthony Fox, Artisitic Director said: 'In 25 years no play has ever brought so many first-timers to the theatre. When I first heard there was a play about road racing, I had to jump on my bike and go and see it. My only hope was that I would like it. I was overjoyed; I felt that Nick, the cast and the director had captured the essence of what it is to ride motorcycles and to compete at impossible speeds.' In 2023 the play sold out six performances at The Lyric, Belfast.

'Fantastic show! I didn't know what to expect - it portrays the sport really well.' Mark Conlin, Ulster Supersport Champion.